Elected officials work does not end in August

Though the boards and congresses* we were elected to may be in recess for the month of August, our work does not stop. Not at all. The needs of the people do not take a break. If anything, this time is invaluable for us to reconnect with our constituencies and our communities. Earlier this week came an experience that I can safely say I never thought I would find myself in, a situation involving an elderly constituent, a community gardener who spoke very few words of English, and a machete.

Suffice to say everything was peacefully resolved.

But man, how often do you hear about elected officials** and machetes***?

While the workload during the week often drops in August, my weekends are anything but sedentary. As it stands, during the summer there are now two farmers markets in and around the county district that I represent, the long-standing South Shore Farmers Market, and the sophomore Garden District Farmers Market. The former is in the morning, while the latter is in the afternoon, which makes it easy to attend both. Except tomorrow (ack, today now!), when I’ll be bouncing from event to event. (I’ll tell you later about how I helped create the Garden District Farmers Market, and show you what it’s becoming.)

The one thing that I need to promote here in the final 12 hours before it starts is Fix It Milwaukee. I asked Milwaukee Makerspace about coming to a Milwaukee County Park to do a “fixing” event, when the good Milwaukee Makerspace people said, “actually, can we do it at our place, where all the tools and equipment is?”

Naturally, I said yes!

So bring your tired, broken stuff—computers, electronics, mechanical devices, small appliances, bicycles, lamps, things that need welding or crimping or what-have-you—to Milwaukee Makerspace at 2555 S. Lenox St. Milwaukee, on Saturday, August 10th, 2013 between 12 noon and 4pm, and they’ll do their best to get them working again. (And if they can’t fix it, they’ll give you their best advice on what to do next.)

With that, good night, and good luck.

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* I sometimes silently chuckle when I hear a colleague refer to the board as “this esteemed body”—but lo, it is!

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Author: Jason Haas

Jason is an elected member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, occasionally moonlights as an amateur gardener, and is a proud father of two, or three, depending on how you do the math.
View all posts by Jason Haas